1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a mouthwash composition and, more particularly, to a non-alcohol mouthwash composition without chemical antibacterial medicament.
2. Description of Related Art
The oral cavity is in daily contact with food and therefore becomes a hotbed for bacteria. In fact, there are more than six hundred species of bacteria known to be found in the oral cavity, including Capnocytophaga sputigena, Lactobacillus brevis, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus oralis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus thermophiles, to name only a few, and some of the bacteria tend to cause dental caries, periodontal diseases, or other common oral diseases. However, tooth brushing can clean only 50% of the tooth surface; the remainder depends on dental floss and mouthwash for cleaning.
The conventional mouthwash ingredients include alcohol and synthetic chemical compositions such as chlorhexidine (CHX) or cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC). Therefore, a conventional mouthwash not only can make teeth yellow, which is esthetically undesirable, but also irritates the oral mucosa, which is especially unacceptable to one who is receiving chemo- or radiotherapy in the head or neck area, and whose oral mucosa is often inflamed and vulnerable as a result of the therapy. While mouthwash is essential for maintaining the oral hygiene of such patients, the aforesaid mouthwash ingredients are simply too irritant to their sensitive oral mucosa.
In addition, the alcohol in mouthwash is liable for white lesions of the oral mucosa and may influence the alcohol content measurement in a breath test (which is conducted as a part of, or an alternative to, a field sobriety test), making mouthwash an inappropriate oral hygiene product for those who have to drive immediately after use. A mouthwash composition is therefore needed which can inhibit bacterial growth in the oral cavity without irritating the oral mucosa and which is suitable for use before driving.